Loom picker

ABSTRACT

A loom picker which has a body of resilient elastomeric material with a shuttle-contacting insert of a wear-resistant material which is harder than the body. The inner end of the insert has an outwardly tapered configuration and is mounted in a cavity which is similarly tapered so that the tapered end of the insert is locked into the cavity. The cross section of the insert and cavity may have any of several conventional geometric shapes to prevent rotation of the insert in the cavity.

United States Patent [1 1 Jacob *Oct. 30, 1973 LOOM PICKER [75] Inventor: Richard J. Jacob, Dayton, Ohio [73] Assignee: Dayco Corporation, Dayton, Ohio Notice: The portion of the term of this patent subsequent to Oct. 17, 1989, has been disclaimed.

[22] Filed: Oct. 10, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 296,416

[52] US. Cl. 139/159 [51] Int. Cl D03d 49/36 [58} Field oi Search 139/159, 160 v [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,229,726 1/1966 Murray 139/159 3,507,304 4/1970 Haag 139/159 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 132,281 7/1929 Switzerland 139/160 215,918 3/1942 Switzerland 139/159 474,593 8/1969 Switzerland..... 1,127,227 8/1956 France 139/160 Primary Examiner-James Kee Chi AttorneyReuben Wolk [57] ABSTRACT A loom picker which has a body of resilient elastomeric material with a shuttle-contacting insert of a wear-resistant material which is harderthan the body. The inner end of the insert has an outwardly tapered configuration and is mounted in a cavity which is similarly tapered so that the tapered end of the insert is locked into the cavity. The cross section of the insert and cavity may have any of several conventional geometric shapes to prevent rotation of the insert in the cavity.

9 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures LOOM PICKER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention refers to loom pickers which are used for driving shuttles across a loom during a weaving operation. In the art of weaving the weft threads are laid transversely of the warp threads by the use of a shuttle which is struck by the picker to drive it back and forth. The high speed of looms creates a high impact on the picker which causes wear, thus necessitating frequent replacement of the picker.

Rather than replace the entire picker, it is highly desirable to replace only the portion of the picker which contacts the shuttle. By providing a simple method of installing and removing the insert which contacts the shuttle, a picker of increased life and lower cost will result. In order to create the proper resilience throughout the body and the high wear of the insert, it is feasible to utilize a picker with a body formed of a resilient elastomeric material and an insert which is formed of somewhat harder material which is highly wear resistant. Such an arrangement has been suggested, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,229,726 and No. 3,507,334. In addition to improving the problem of wear, a picker of this type also minimizes the noise which is created by the impact between the shuttle and the picker.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In my copending application Ser. No. 134,561, filed Apr. 16, 1971, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,443, issued Oct. 17, 1972, I provided a picker consisting of a novel combination of a resilient body, such as urethane, and a removable wear-resistant shuttle-contacting insert, harder than the body, preferably made of high molecular weight polyethylene. Simplified installation and removal of the insert was accomplished by providing a tapered boss on the inner end of the insert which was placed in a cavity in the body, this cavity having a constant cross-section throughout its depth. The insert could thus be easily installed and removed from the body. When the insert became worn because of repeated impacts, it was a simple matter to remove it and install a new'one. The novel concept resided in the fact that the tapered configuration of the boss created a tight lock within the cavity. Rotation of the insert is prevented by providing the boss and the cavity with a geometric cross section, such as a square, a triangle, a rectangle, a hexagon, an octagon, or similar geometric configurations.

The present invention is similar to my earlier one in the provision of a removable wear-resistant insert, installed in a resilient body. In the present invention I provide a tapered boss on the inner end of the insert, and a similarly tapered cavity in the body to hold the boss snugly. Rotation of the boss is prevented as in the earlier invention, by means of a geometric cross section such as a square, triangle, rectangle, hexagon, or octa-l gon. The boss is at least as larg e'as the cavity, but preferably slightly larger, to assure a tight fit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF'THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of a novel picker mounted on a picker stick.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a picker taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, illustrating the insert assembled in the body.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, illustrating the insert disassembled from the body.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, illustrating a modifled form of insert.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2, illustrating the cross-sectional configuration of the insert and cavity.

FIGS. 610 are cross-sectional views similar to FIG. 5, illustrating alternative cross-sectional configurations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 illustrates a typical arrangement of a picker 11 mounted on a picker stick 12 which passes through an opening 14 extending through the upper and lower surfaces of the picker. The body of the picker is designated by reference numeral 13 and has a shuttlecontacting insert 15 which is located within the cavity 18 of the body. A conical recess 16 in the face of the insert contacts the shuttle during motion and helps to seat the shuttle within the insert.

The body 13 is made of an elastomeric material which is resilient in order to provide long life and shock absorption. A preferred material is urethane, which may be cast or injection molded. The cavity 18 extends inwardly from the front edge of the body but terminates short of the picker stick opening, and tapers so that the inner face 20 of the cavity has a larger diameter than the outer face 21. The cross section of the body may have any of several geometric shapes, such as square, triangular, rectangular, hexagonal, or octagonal, as best shown in FIGS. 51 10.

The insert 15 has a shuttle-contacting face and further has a boss 17 which has a tapered configuration in which the inner end, designated by reference numeral 19, is greater in cross section than the outer end 22. The insert is made of a high wear-resistant material such as high molecular weight polyethylene which is harder than the material of the body and which thus withstands the impact of the picker for long periods of time. The cross section of the boss 17 may also have any of the configurations shown in FIGS. 5-10 which thus mate with the configuration of the cavity in order to prevent rotation of the insert within the cavity. The boss 17 is tapered similarly. to the cavity 18 so that the walls are approximately parallel. In order to achieve a snug fit within the cavity, the inner diameter 19 of the boss 17 is at least as large as the maximum inner diameter 20 of the cavity 18, but preferably slightly larger. The boss diameter may exceed the cavity diameter by 0.020 inch.

The insert may be placed snugly into the cavity as shown in FIG. 2 in order to lock it firmly in place within the body. Installationand removal of the insert is a comparatively simple matter; it is thus possibleto replace the insert when it has become unduly worn.

FIG. 4 illustrates a modified form of the invention in which an insert 23 having a conical recess 24 is formed in a mannersimilar to the boss 17. This is also tapered outwardly from a minimum diameter at 26 to a maximum diameter at 25. The front face of the insert in this instance will be flush with the front face of the body.

FIG. 5 illustrates one cross-sectional configuration of the boss 17 and the mating configuration of the cavity 18 when the insert is placed into the cavity. As can be seen, this cross section is square.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment in which the cross section of the boss 27 is triangular as is the cavity. The FIG. 7 modification utilizes a boss and cavity in the form of a vertical rectangle 37; while FIG. 8 has a similar boss 47 and cavity with a horizontal rectangular cross section. The boss 57 and cavity of FIG. 9 is hexagonal and the boss 67 and cavity of FIG. 10 is octagonal. It should be understood that other geometric shapes are contemplated, the principal requirement involving the necessity for locking the insert into the cavity to avoid rotation.

I claim:

1. A loom picker comprising a body of resilient elastomeric material having a picker stick opening passing through the upper and lower surfaces thereof, a cavity in one end of said body terminating short of said opening, and an insert of wear-resistant material comprising an outer shuttle-contacting portion and an inner portion capable of mounting within said cavity, said inner portion having a tapered configuration with the inner end being greater in cross section than the outer end, said cavity having a similarly tapered configuration for mounting said insert therein, said inner end having a diameter at least as large as the diameter of the maximum diameter of said cavity, said cavity and said inner portion of the insert having a mating cross-sectional configuration to prevent rotation of said insert within said cavity.

2. The picker of claim 1 in which said inner end has a diameter which is 0.001 to 0.020 inch larger than the maximum diameter of said cavity.

3. The picker of claim 1 in which said insert is made of a harder material than said body.

4. The picker of claim 1 in which said body is made of urethane elastomer and said insert is made of high molecular weight polyethylene.

5. The picker of claim 1 in which said cross-sectional configuration is square.

6. The picker of claim 1 in which said cross-sectional configuration is triangular.

7. The picker of claim 1 in which said cross-sectional configuration is rectangular.

8. The picker of claim 1 in which said cross-sectional configuration is hexagonal.

9. The picker of claim 1 in which said cross-sectional configuration is octagonal. 

1. A loom picker comprising a body of resilient elastomeric material having a picker stick opening passing through the upper and lower surfaces thereof, a cavity in one end of said body terminating short of said opening, and an insert of wearresistant material comprising an outer shuttle-contacting portion and an inner portion capable of mounting within said cavity, said inner portion having a tapered configuration with the inner end being greater in cross section than the outer end, said cavity having a similarly tapered configuration for mounting said insert therein, said inner end having a diameter at least as large as the diameter of the maximum diameter of said cavity, said cavity and said inner portion of the insert having a mating crosssectional configuration to prevent rotation of said insert within said cavity.
 2. The picker of claim 1 in which said inner end has a diameter which is 0.001 to 0.020 inch larger than the maximum diameter of said cavity.
 3. The picker of claim 1 in which said insert is made of a harder material than said body.
 4. The picker of claim 1 in which said body is made of urethane elastomer and said insert is made of high molecular weight polyethylene.
 5. The picker of claim 1 in which said cross-sectional configuration is square.
 6. The picker of claim 1 in which said cross-sectional configuration is triangular.
 7. The picker of claim 1 in which said cross-sectional configuration is rectangular.
 8. The picker of claim 1 in which said cross-sectional configuration is hexagonal.
 9. The picker of claim 1 in which said cross-sectional configuration is octagonal. 